Navajos Fight Their Food Desert With Junk Food And Soda Taxes

More than 30 cities and states across the country have attempted to tax soda. Nearly all have failed.

Now, a community of about 250,000 people has found a way to tax not just sugary beverages, but also junk food. At the same time, it’s making fresh produce more affordable in one of the hardest regions in the U.S. to buy it.

As of April 1, products like cheese puffs and energy drinks sold inside the Navajo Nation (the 27,000-square-mile reservation extending into Utah, Arizona and New Mexico) will carry an extra 2-cent sales tax (on top of the 5-cent sales tax on most goods sold there). And since October, fresh fruits and vegetables there have been tax-free.